the MOST important relationship is the one you have with yourself. pro tip for those still trying to fully love themselves: spend some good time alone. try new things, go to your fave places, etc all alone. make yourself happy. there’s really no better feeling than truly loving yourself, man oh mannn

“An affinity for solitude is comparable only to one’s affinity for certain other people. And yet one’s first experience of solitude, like one’s first experience of the other, is fraught with danger. The absence of the visible and the absence of the object; and the #risk , as in dreams, that innermost thoughts will come to light...
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Risks are taken as part of the mastery of noncompliance. One way the [woman] differentiates [herself], discovers [her]capacity for solitude - for self-reliance that is not merely a triumph over this need for the object - is by taking and making risks.
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We create risk when we endanger something we value, whenever we test the relationship between thrills and virtues. [She] needs, unconsciously, to endanger [her] body, to experiment with the representations of it, and [she] does this out of the most primitive form of solitude, isolation.
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The risk in destructiveness is that it may not be withstood; the risk of establishing one’s solitude is the risk of one’s potential freedom.”
- Adam Phillips
#beachthoughts#travel#solotravel#solitude#om

What comes to mind when you envision your ideal 'wilderness experience'? That could be seen as a loaded question, but really is just up for personal and subjective interpretation. There is, of course, capital W #Wilderness , but I would argue (and certainly some will disagree) that an experience does not have to be congressionally designated to be personally valuable or what you are seeking. However, for ease of discussion, I will point out the four qualities of Wilderness Character that designated Wilderness areas must be managed for: Untrammeled, Undeveloped, Natural, and Opportunities for Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation (that last one is a mouthful). Do you expect one or more of those any time you recreate outdoors? Do you prioritize one over the others? Would you be willing to sacrifice one to protect another? For instance, many (myself included) prioritize #solitude when it comes to 'wilderness experience'--with social media, web-based resources, and easier transportation these days, many deeply loved and stunningly beautiful places are seeing unsustainably high levels of use. This can lead to implementation of limited access permits in order to preserve certain qualities (like solitude). Of course, this is a burden to manage and a frustration for those who like to just 'wing it' when heading out into the backcountry--but how willing are people, as a collective culture, to self restrain in order to protect what we ultimately love? These are discussions that occur more and more frequently these days... #keepitwild#optoutside#nature#wildernessculture#earthoutdoors#colorado#publiclands#leavenotrace#ourwild#ourplanetdaily#itsallyours#intothewild#mountains#seeforyourself#discover#neverstopexploring#exploremore#alphacollective#sonyalpha